Combined sign and burglar alarm signal



Aug. 15, 1950 J. R. DAVIDSON COMBINED SIGN AND BURGLAR ALARM SIGNAL Filed Oct, 20. 1947 Fig.

l6 w ll/I111 [8 CAR All/M852 CALL OL/CE 9 l5 Ihvenlor Jo/m R. Davidson I Patented Aug. 15, 1950 i n: AND BuaeLA ALARM. Y SIGNAL i h l: Iii;Davids n,; .Jef rsona ssianor: o

fittr. g n q- Alexander, Jefiersont.

ApplicatiorrOctbberflO,1947, Serial No. 780,853

,This invention relates to; a devicenormally ed to act as an identification; or adver tising sign; for a business establishmenasuch 35,137, bank, but adapted to act. asa, burglar alarm sige 11a}. an emergency.

Theprima-ry object of. the present inventioiris t provide,- a simple; and efficient.- device. of the, ab. e. kind, which may;- be readily and: easily or operated.

Briefly, the presentinvention embodies; a sign;v pted; to be mounted on; the: outside: of, the hull. us. v a b iness es ablishment-and. in l de a casing, at least. one; sideof; which, bears; we sidentifying' or; advertising therbusiness esstab ,hment. The Sign-basing has; aremovable ttqm; Wallv at a hed t t e. low r ed e: of a. sialea w os per. d e s: attach d to asupe porting member within the sign, The: signahfl'agg is,,,f oldjable, within the sign casing so as to be concealed when the bottom wall is disposed to close the bottom of said sign casing, l a titallr. r ea a l m n under control of an employee of the business establishment, be, ing providedto secure saidbottom wall in closing position. The signal flag bears warning words to advise:x passers-by at the sidewalk that a burglarthe building and. that ll-61:11:18 want-ed, wcrdsbeingwdisplayed on the. portion oi'the flag depends. and is. exposed below the Sign caswhemthebottom. walltiszreleased and causes the flag to extend through and below the bottom of said casing to an unfolded condition.

The sign is preferably of the illuminated type having a source of light within the casing and having openings in the side wall of the latter which form the letters of the words identifying or advertising the business establishment. The source of light may be movable by gravity downwardly through the bottom of the sign casing with the flag to illuminate the latter when exposed at night. Preferably, both sides of the sign casing may have the letters, and both sides of the flag may have the warning words, two sources of light being provided, one to illuminate each side of the flag when exposed, at night.

The exact nature of the present invention will become apparent from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary perspective view showing a device embodying the present invention as it appears in use.

Figure 2 is a view showing the device of Figure 1 in vertical section on line 2-2 of Figure 3, and diagrammatically showing the circuits for the J eel-aims (01. 117 -314);

I electrical elements used. with. and; forming part otsaid. clerics-1 Figure;,3-l1 is a. transverse. vertical: sectionioir line, ki-oiurea.

Figurezdzis; a. side-elevational view-of. the: device; drawn on. a; reduced scale; with. the signat: flag. ext nded,

Referringindetaiitothe drawing, 5 indicates; area-talisman sign casing; which preferably-of" vertically flat: and, horizontally elongated: form shown, said casing; including a; top. wall 6, end Wal s; L, side walls 8-,; andca. remevable bottozzmwail 9;. Atileastone of: the side: walls 8? provided? provided-with the letter forming openings-ill :so-

The bottom wall 9 is releasably held in placebythe same atroneside with hooks; l3

whicht'engage. over keeper brackets l t; attached to one of the side walls 8, and by providing the wall 9 at the other side with an apertured keeper bracket l5 receiving the spring projected bolt I6 attached to the core of a solenoid H. The solenoid is of conventional construction in which the core is retracted when the coil of the solenoid is energized, so as to withdraw the bolt I6 from the keeper [5. As soon as the bolt I5 is released, the bottom wall 9 will be released so as to lower as far as allowed by a signal flag l8. This signal flag is made of flexible fabric and has the wall 9 suitably attached to the lower edge thereof, the upper edge of the flag being suitably secured to a horizontal longitudinal bar or equivalent supporting member l9 fixed within the casing 5.

In order to illuminate the sign and the signal flag at night, electric lamps 20 are arranged within the casing 5 at opposite sides of the flag l8 and suspended by drop cords 2|. When the flag isfolded within the casing and the bottom wall 9 is secured in place as shown in Figures 1 to 3 inclusive, the lamps 20 will illuminate the letters 10, when said lamps are lighted. On the other hand, when the bottom wall 9 is released so as to extend the flag I8 as shown in Figure 4, the

angers lamps 20 will lower by gravity through the bottom of the sign casing so as to be in proper position for illuminating opposite sides of the flag, as illustrated with respect to one of the lamps in Figure 4. Preferably the flag I8 is provided on opposite sides with the words 22 to advise passersby at the sidewalk that a burglar is in the building and that help is wanted. As shown diagrammatically in Figure 2, the lamps 20 are under control of a switch 22a which is suitably located in the building on which the sign is used. Also, the

solenoid H is under control of one or more switches 23 conveniently accessible by an employee or employees of the business establishment. In addition, the circuit of the solenoid ll may have included therein an alarm 24 located at a distant police station or the like.

It is believed that the operation of the present device will be readily understood. With the bottom wall 9 locked in closing position as shown in Figures 2 and 3, the device will have-the outward appearance of nothing but an ordinary sign. However, should a burglary be attempted in the building on which the sign is used, an official or employee of the business establishment located in the building" ma conveniently close a switch 23 so as to energize the solenoid I! and remote signal 24. When the solenoid I? is energized, the bolt 16 is retracted from the keeper I5so as to allow bottom wall 9 to lower and extend the flag l8.to a visible position beneath the sign casing as shown in Figure 4. The warning words on the flag willthen advise passers-by at the sidewalk that a burglar is in the building and that help is wanted. The signal is also received at the distant police station or the like so as to insure ultimate arrival of help from that point. During the daytime, the switch 22 may be left open so that the lamps 20 are not energized, at a time when illumination of the sign and the flag is not necessary. It will be seen that the device is comparatively simple in construction and. effectively serves the'intended purpose. Minor changes in details of construction illustrated and described, are contemplated, such as fall within the scope of. the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new is:

1. A combined sign and burglar alarm signal, comprising a casing having a bottom wall and 4 provided in at least one side wall with openings forming a word or words identifying or advertising a business establishment, electrically oper- ,,ated securing means for releasably securing the bottom wall in position closing the bottom of the casing, said bottom Wall being adapted to drop by, gravity upon release of said securing means, a supporting member within the casing, a lamp mounted in the casing for illuminating said word or words, and a foldable warning flag connected at its upper edge to the supporting member and at its 'lower edge to the bottom wall, said flag being extensible through the bottom of the casing by the bottom wall when the latter is released and allowed to drop by gravity, whereby the flag will assume a visible unfolded condition beneath the casing, and means supporting said lamp for movement downwardly through the bottom of the casing with the flag for illuminating the latter when unfolded.

2. A burglar alarm signal comprising a casing having a bottom wall, electrically operated securing means for releasably securing the bottom wall in position closing the bottom of the casing, said bottom wall being adapted to drop by gravity uponrelease of said securing means, a supporting member within the casing, a lamp mounted in the casing, a foldable warning flag connected at its upper edge to the supporting member and at its lower edge to the bottom wall, said flag being extensible through the bottom of the casing by the bottom wall when the latter is released-and allowed to drop by gravity, wherebythe flag will assume a visible unfolded condition beneath the casing, and means supporting said lamp for movement downwardly through the bottom of the casing with the flag for illuminating the latter when unfolded.

. JOHN R. DAVIDSON.

, REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Pijakowski Feb. 5, 1929 

